One Shanghai woman in her late 50s was checking out products for her relatives who run shops in the city.

"It's my first time to visit the show. I'm very impressed with the quality of products on display I saw someone blow up a condom really big and it didn't explode or leak at all!" she said.

On the Guangzhou Zhengli Sexy Underwear Co stand, saleswoman Euco Le Wang was on the lookout for foreign buyers.

"As soon as I see a foreigner my eyes light up because they are the customers we are looking for. We've been here every time since the beginning and the show gets bigger and more popular every year," she said.

A local policeman surnamed Liu, busy taking pictures of a stand selling leather masks and other equipment, said that having travelled abroad he now realized how uptight some Chinese people were about sex.

"I don't see why these things are such a taboo, I hope this exhibition can help people become more enlightened in their attitudes," he said.

It was a message also espoused by veteran advocate of erotic culture Liu Dalin, a 74-year-old Shanghai sociology professor renowned for opening China's first sex museum.

About 260 exhibits from Liu's private collection of around 4,000 artefacts, some up to 9,000 years old, are on display at the exhibition.

"I want people to be able to have a good, healthy attitude towards sex and realize that it is the most natural thing in the world," said Liu.

"The majority of the products at the show help promote exactly that."

(China Daily 08/12/2006 page1)